The Music of the Spheres is a novel that mixes alternate history with sci-fi, crime fiction and heavy doses of humor, left-wing politics, and psychedelic rock.

Influences include Michael Moorcock, J.G. Ballard, Philip K. Dick, Ursula Le Guin, Daniel Pinkwater, Hawkwind, and Gong. 

BLURB:

It’s an alternate 1968 in which recreational drugs aren’t illegal; in fact, giant pharma companies push them as regulated products with full governmental sanction to a class of drugged-out hippies that are nothing but cash cows living in a fake counterculture. Musician Simon Hastings of leading psychedelic band The Spheres discovers the true callous darkness of this arrangement when his band’s singer is poisoned by one of these drugs — and it’s clear the death was a professional hit. Through a dystopian landscape, Hastings determinedly searches for the murderer, with the help of a cast of eccentric psychedelic rock heroes. Hastings gradually becomes aware that true rebellion will require a lot more than just blissing out and making noise. 

The Music of the Spheres is both a darkly comedic romp and a loving paean to musical idealism.

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Allister Thompson has been a professional book editor for 25 years and a musician for much longer. He lives in Northern Ontario, Canada. 

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If you enjoy this novel and wish to tip me, you can visit http://thegatelessgate.bandcamp.com and throw me a buck or two for one of my name-your-price psychedelic or ambient albums, some of which contain the very songs mentioned in this book.

As heard on this playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOfZXm-E5AM&list=PLYCw5Tz6GekmCCQrWjwy_Oc7qxGj9xxlX

And if you wish to buy a deluxe hard copy of the book, it’s for sale on the Evil Empire (Amazon).

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